A Fair Freelance

Front matter

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Chapter I. On The Dark Road

Rain and mist had for the past six hours claimed the little town of Scanden-on-the-Moors for their own. A heavy drenching downpour, commencing at eleven o'clock in the morning, had been falling incessantly, and, although it was past five o'clock, showed no signs of abatement. Steaming vapour arose from the sodden, thatched roofs of the dwellings, and the neighbouring hills and fells were shrouded by a dense curtain of mist. The gutters which ran along the sides of the principal streets were filled to overflowing, and drowned kittens, cabbage leaves, and all the various refuse of a northern county town were being whirled rapidly down to the river Spume, which divided Scanden-on-the-Moors into two unequal parts. Not a soul was to be seen in the streets ; even Wild Tom, the town idiot, who usually delighted in braving tho elements like a very inferior class of Ajax, had at last grown wearied of his protracted soaking, and crept away into his usual retreat, the corner of the hayloft of the " Dragon and Lamb."

Some of the inhabitants could be seen gazing wearily through their windows at the deluge. The knot of gossips that had been passing the last few hours at the blacksmith'^ forge discussing A politics with much noise, over innumerable pipes and repeated draughts of ale, had at last grown weary of their occupation, and with hats slouched over their eyes, and coat-collars turned up to their ears, were about to make a desperate rush to their own domiciles, when the rapid beat of a horse's hoofs and the rattle of wheels attracted their attention. Nearer and nearer came the sound, and in a few seconds more a high yellow-wheeled gig, drawn by a gigantic chestnut horse, reeking with the speed at which he had been driven, pulled up at the door of the " Dragon and Lamb." " Here, Master Bomstead," cried the driver, as he sprang from his seat, " just wash out Red Ruin's mouth, and give me a drain of something, for I must be back at the Chace in another two hours at the latest with what I have been sent for."

" Why, mercy on me, Caleb, what can that be ? " asked the host, gazing with surprise at the fiery animal which, in spite of the pace at which it had come, looked full of vice. " Eh, Caleb," he added, in a coaxing voice, handing a strong jorum of brandy to the driver, which his barman had just brought out, " what is it that the Scjuire may be wanting up at the Chace in such weather as this ? " "A doctor," answered the man, laconically, as he swallowed the contents of the tumbler as if it had been so much water, and without another word he strode across the road to a small house which stood opposite the inn, leaving the landlord a prey to all the pangs of ungratified curiosity. Mr. Ephraim Phibbs, who was usually dubbed " Doctor," had only been indoors some half-hour, after a weary round of professional visits.

His soaked overcoat and wraps were steaming before the kitchen fire, upon the hob of which was a covered dish exhaling a savoury odour. A fair white cloth covered the table in the little ON THE DARK ROAD. 3 sitting-room, and the doctor had just entered the room with a brimming jug of October ale in his hand, when a thundering knock at the door almost made him drop it upon the floor. " Dear me, dear me ! " cried he, peevishly. " Is a man never to have a moment's rest ? Here, Janet," he ex claimed to his servant, " unless it is anything of real importance, say I'm out — say I'm engaged — say any thing that first comes into your head, but for good ness' sake let me enjoy my meal in peace." But before the doctor had issued his instructions the panels of the front door again resounded beneath a fresh shower of blows, and a harsh voice exclaimed, " Doctor Phibbs, Doctor Phibbs !

I know you are in. Open the door ; Squire Thelluson wants you up at the Chace." The name Thelluson was one that bore weight in the town of Scanden-on-the-Moors, and no one thought for a moment of disobeying any mandate issued by the bearei of it ; therefore, without any further delay, Dr. Phibbs ran across the little passage, and threw open the door in obedience to the summons. A tall, powerful man, something over six feet in height, was standing on the threshold, with the rain streaming from his slouched hat and shaggy coat. His coarse dark hair grew low down over his forehead, and the voice in which he addressed the doctor was deep and harsh, though he did his best to soften it. " Squire wants you at once, doctor," said he, touching his hat roughly. " I've brought the gig over for you, and please make haste, Squire's in a hurry."

" But, Caleb, my goodfellow," pleaded the poor doctor, with a glance at the weather, which looked as un promising as ever; "I've only just come in, and am wet through and hungry. Can't you wait a little ? " " Not a moment," answered the man, doggedly. " Squire's orders were that I was to fetch you, and that, if you didn't come, I was to bring you ; " and as he spoke he extended an arm that might have persuaded a grizzly bear to have accompanied him. Doctor Phibbs shrank back nervously, with a deep sigh. "Well, if I must, I suppose I must," murmured he ; " but what ails the Squire that he wants to see a doctor all of a sudden ? " Caleb burst into a loud laugh. " Do you think, if the Squire had broken every bone in his body, he'd send for a doctor, not he ? It's Madame Hinda you're wanted for, you know she " "Yes, yes," answered Doctor Phibbs, hurriedly ; "but there must be some mistake — why Doctor Ormsby, of Elmston Wick, is attending her ; " and he gave a little sigh as he thought of his more prosperous rival.

" Old Ormsby was pitched out of his gig this morning and put his shoulder out, so you are wanted ; but come along, man, time is flying, and the Squire will be in a rare taking if I am late." With another deep sigh, the doctor struggled into his wet boots, and enveloping himself as well as he could in his sodden wraps, crossed the road and clambered heavily into the gig. In another moment Caleb was by his side, and with a fierce plunge that tried the harness, and every bolt and screw of the gig, the great raking chestnut darted madly forward, and after one or two eccentric evolutions that brought the doctor's heart into his mouth, settled down steadily to his work. At first Doctor Phibbs was too busily engaged in endeavouring to protect himself from the rain that was beating fiercely into his face, to take much notice of either the horse or his companion ; but after he had ascertained by a series of experiments that it was impossible to keep himself dry, he began to realise his position.

" Why, gracious me, Caleb ! " said he, " isn't the horse you are driving that savage beast Red Ruin?" " Yes," answered Caleb, laconically. " Why, goodness gracious ! didn't he kill two men ? " inquired the doctor, nervously. " He only killed Will Corder," replied Caleb ; " the OJV THE DARK ROAD. 5 young fool shouldn't have got into the stall so suddenly ; Red Ruin was always a timid horse." " But there was old Winthrop, too," observed the doctor. " He isn't dead," growled Caleb. " No, he certainly isn't dead, but he might as well be, for he is a cripple for life," said the doctor, with a slight shudder. " He shouldn't have got within reach of his heels," returned Caleb. " But sit fast, doctor," he added, as a blinding flash of lightning lit up the whole scene around, " for Red Ruin can't abide thunder."

As he spoke, a deafening peal which seemed to be re echoed from every point of the horizon, burst upon them, and Pied Ruin after a momentary slackening of his pace made a sudden plunge forward, and dashed off at a rate which it defied even Caleb's strong arms to control. " Is he away with us ? " asked the doctor, after this headlong pace had lasted for two or three minutes. For the moment Caleb made no reply, but clenched his teeth, and strained at the reins until the great muscles of his arms stood up and showed through his coat-sleeves like knots of cordage, but he was utterly unable to check the pace of the animal. " Do you know Grimston Pot," asked he of the doctor in a hoarse whisper ; " the place where they say Old Nick always keeps a supply of boiling water for the Theliusons ? " " Grimston Pot !

" repeated the doctor, his cheek growing ashy pale ; " the place where they said you " " Ay, the place where they found the body of Elsie Keston," answered the man, slowly. " Well, we are in the upper road to the Chace now, and Grimston Pot is about a mile off on the right. The road takes a sharp twist there — if I can turn Red Ruin, well and good ; if not, we must go down sheer sixty feet. Sit still, you fool ! " he added, as the doctor made a movement as if he would throw himself from the gig, " that would be certain death, whereas we may have a chance of saving our bones yet." Perfectly petrified with terror, the unhappy doctor clung to the rail of the gig, which rapidly neared the perilous portion of the road. Fortunately there had been no more thunder, though the rain continued to pour down with unabated violence, and so Red Ruin's alarm had a little subsided.

And now the road, which had been washed white by the rain, could be seen to turn off at a sudden angle to the right, whilst straight in front was a dismal abyss with only a broken fence across its mouth. Suddenly Caleb started to his feet, and maintaining his position in spite of the swinging and swaying of the gig, shouted to his horse, and took a firm grip of his head. For a moment it appeared as if the animal ■would plunge headlong to destruction, but when its chest seemed almost to touch the rotten timbers of the fence, it swerved suddenly to the right, and dashed along the road that led to safety. "Phew!" said Caleb, with a low whistle, "I don't think I ever had a narrower squeak than that. Why, doctor, you look like a corpse. Put your hand into my coat-pocket and you'll find a flask of hollands.

You mustn't go shaking and shivering like that into the presence of the Squire, or, by the Lord Harry, he'll twist your neck. Take a pull at it, man, and see if you can't get some heart into you." With trembling fingers Doctor Phibbs obeyed the mandate, and as the fiery spirit gurgled down his throat a faint colour spread over his cheeks. " Jehu was nothing to you, my good Caleb," said he. " I confess that you did give me a turn " " And lucky for you that I did so," answered the man, with a coarse laugh, " for without it your bones would have been mashed on the rocks at the bottom ON THE DARK ROAD. 7 of Grimston Pot. But pluck up, man, pluck up ! we are only half a mile from the Chace now ; and remember, you must have your wits about you to-night." " What does Madame Hinda " began the doctor.

"Yes," interrupted Caleb, "and that is why the Squire sent me off in such a hurry for you." This answer did not seem to reassure Doctor Phibbs very much, but as Red Ruin's canter had now slackened into a fast trot, and as all immediate danger of an over turn appeared to have passed away, he thought it best to cast aside all thoughts as to future danger, and con tent himself with present safety. " Is Mr. Madoc at the Chace ? " asked he. " No ; and more the pity," was the laconic reply. " He and the Squire don't seem to get on very well together — eh, Caleb ? " said the doctor, insinuatingly. " Look here, Master Phibbs," returned Caleb, turning round in his seat and looking his companion straight in the face, "people don't find it healthy to talk too much about the Squire or the Chace. I don't do so, and I don't advise you to do so either.

Just you let sleeping dogs lie, that's my motto, and a good one you will find it." As he spoke a loud prolonged howl broke through the stillness of the night, a wild fearful sound that seemed to have nothing of the earth in it. " Gracious me, Caleb ! what is that frightful noise ? " asked the doctor, once more relasping into a state of abject terror. " Why, you'll be frightened at your own shadow next, doctor," answered the man, contemptuously; " that's only one of the hounds." "The hounds, what hounds?" asked Phibbs, his teeth chattering with terror. " Why, the bloodhounds, of course," returned Caleb. " Did you never hear of the Thelluson breed, and that as long as there is a master of the Chace, there will be a pack of bloodhounds kept ? But there, you have never been up to the Chace, have you ?

" " No," stammered the doctor. "Ah," remarked Caleb, "the Squire don't care much for cattle of your description, and if it wasn't for Madame Hinda you wouldn't have a chance of seeing the pretty creatures. Why, bless your heart ! there isn't ODe that is not able to pull down a stag, much more a man." " And are all these pretty creatures loose about the place?" " Only at night. In the day they are all shut up in the inner quadrangle, except Boanerges, the biggest of the lot, and he never leaves the Squire," answered Caleb. " Do you know, Caleb, I find that I have forgotten something, and I think that I must go home for it. Don't trouble yourself, I can easily walk back, and I will drive over first thing in the morning. You can tell the Squire so." " Blessed if I can," answered Caleb, " and if you have forgotten anything I wouldn't be in your shoes.

Why, man, he'd think nothing of having you pitched into the lake with a stone round your neck like a mangy puppy. No, no, Master Phibbs, it is Fear, and not Truth, that is speaking just now. You come along — the dogs won't hurt you as long as you are with me. See, here is the gate." As he spoke they passed under a massive Norman gateway set in a high stone wall, and after a drive of about a mile and a half along an avenue, drew up before a dark mass of building, in which a few lights twinkled here and there. At the sound of the wheels, however, a door was flung open, and a flood of light poured out, in the midst of which could be seen the figure of a tall man, with an iron-grey beard hanging down to his waist ; whilst around his knees clustered ten or a dozen bloodhounds of the largest size. " Well, Caleb," said he, in a deep voice ; " have you brought the doctor ? " "Yes, Squire, I have," returned Caleb,"and here he is."

Chapter II. The Thellusons Of The Chace

Back almost as far as the history of the northern counties of England can be traced the Chace had been held by a Thelluson, and the race had always been a strange and eccentric one. A Thelluson had accompanied the lion-hearted monarch in his Crusades, and had brought back a strangely beautiful captive, in the shape of a daughter of a Saracen Emir. But the delicate Eastern flower had not long survived its removal to alien soil, and it was hinted that her death had been hastened by the jealousy of the Chatelaine of the Chace. Be that as it may, from that day the Green Lady became an accepted fact, as a supernatural being whose appearance was a sure augury of impending death or misfortune to the family. In the reign of Hemy VI., Hugo de Thelluson adopted the White and Red Roses alternately, as fortune seemed to incline to either side, receiving his inspirations from a familiar spirit to which it was said he had sold himself.

In Henry the Eighth's time, Marmaduke Thelluson, or Marmaduke the Wizard, joined the Reformed Religion — not from any conviction, but to be revenged upon the monks, who had persecuted him in his search after the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone. In Elizabeth's time, Randolph Thelluson accompanied Raleigh in several of his visits to the New World, and brought back a rooted affection for tobacco, which has since then been a distinguished characteristic of the Theliusons. Urgan Thelluson, in the reign of James I., narrowly escaped execution for giving shelter to one of the con spirators in the Gunpowder Plot. Hawkesley Thelluson impoverished the family estates terribly at the gay Court of Charles IL, but his career was cut short by a duel with a roystering bully in a gambling-house ; and Gervan, who succeeded him, cleared the estate once more by a life of the most niggardly penury.

He was murdered, there is but too much reason to believe, by his own son, Neville Thelluson, who was tried and acquitted for the crime by the infamous Judge Jeffreys, to whom it was reported he gave a bribe of ten thousand pounds. Cyril Thelluson, the deadliest rapier and the wildest reveller at the Court of Queen Anne, was succeeded by Monckton Thelluson, scholar and bookworm ; and so on, until the present Squire, Oswald Thelluson, took pos session of the family estates. In his youth, the Squire had entered the army, and been present at Wellington's crowning victory of Waterloo ; but his free spirit could not brook the tram mels of military disipline, and, after peace had been proclaimed, he sold out, and for a time led a life of the wildest excess in town. His iron frame and herculean strength enabled him to withstand carouses which would have sent other and weaker men to their graves, and the feats of Mad Thelluson (as he was nicknamed) rang through all London.

Suddenly, however, he disappeared, and for five years nothing was heard of him, until it was discovered that he was living peaceably at the Chace with his wife. During a fishing excursion in Wales he had become madly enamoured of a beautiful Welsh girl, the daughter of a small farmer, and with his customary impetuosity he had married her, and, saying as little as possible regard ing his own rank and position, he had rented a charming little cottage in the neighbourhood, where he lived a life THE THELLUSONS OF THE CHACE. 11 of apparent contentment with his beautiful wife, Gwynneth. The birth of a son, who was christened Madoc, how ever, caused him to leave his seclusion, and be took up his abode with his wife at the Chace, where she died in giving birth to a daughter, Nest Thelluson. The loss of his wife, whom he had so passionately adored, was a terrible shock to the Squire.

He withdrew from all society, and permitted his beard and moustache to grow, a proceeding which was looked upon as strange and unusual in those days. After a few months of mourning, however, he again took to field sports with all his former ardour, and his name began again to be talked of in sporting circles. Little Madoc, as soon as he could sit in a saddle, had his pony, and at an early age was taught many things that he had best have been ignorant of; as, however, he came to the age of fourteen, he began to betray a dis inclination for the violont exercises of the field, though he never lost the taste for drink which he had learned from his earliest years. Warned by the remonstrances of his neighbours, the Squire for once listened to the voice of reason, and sent the boy to a private tutor's in the South of England, and afterwards to Harrow.

At the time at which this story opens, he was leading the idle, purposeless life of a man about town, with an ample allowance from his father. Nest seemed to have imbibed all her mother's sweet ness of disposition ; she was adored by her father, and loved him passionately in return. Young as she was, she manifested a decided talent for painting, which her doting father allowed her to gratify as much as she desired. And now occurred another event, which threw the whole county into a convulsion of astonishment, prepared as it was for any eccentricity on the part of a Thelluson of the Chace. Oswald Thelluson, after bidding his daughter an affectionate farewell, and after spending three rather riotous days in London with his son, went off for a six weeks' trip to the Continent. He remained away two years, and then returned with a second wife, a Russian lady of good family, as he told all his friends.

Who she was no one knew ; but she would occasionally let slip little bits of her history, from which it appeared that she was the daughter of an English officer, who had offered his sword to Russia, and having risen high in the service had espoused the daughter of a nobleman of good position. Both her parents had died during her childhood from an epidemic which devastated Southern Russia, where her father held a high command, and she had been taken charge of by an uncle, who, how ever, had died, leaving her in rather distressed circum stances, at which time she had met Oswald Thelluson. Hinda, for that was her name, was a wonderfully fascinating little creature, slight, frail, and very fair, with an enormous wealth of auburn hair ; the appearance of her face was only marred by the steely glitter of her blue eyes, and by a rather too decided expression of the mouth.

Though her feet were exquisitely small and symmetrical, yet her hands were rather large, and when angry or excited her fingers would open and shut in a cruelly suggestive way. There was a certain cat-like air in the way she liked to nestle amongst furs and soft things, in her fondness for the fire, or for basking in the sun when the weather would permit it. Her soft moods of contentment, and the sudden way in which a slight cause would excite her wrath, completed the resemblance. She was much younger than her husband, by whom she was adored, and who gratified her slightest wish with all the eagerness of a young and ardent lover. Up to the present no one had been able to detect her real character, or even to discover if she possessed one at all. THE THELLUSONS OF THE CHACE. 13 Her whole life seemed to be one long round of indo lent pleasure ; she seldom read, never worked, rarely went beyond the confines of the Chace ; but when the house was thrown open to guests, she made a very admirable hostess, and would sit and sing such quaint weird songs as would speedily collect the gentlemen round her, and raise strange feelings in the hearts of the women, though they could not for a moment accuse her of any direct attempts at flirtation.

She professed at once the deepest affection for Nest, and captivated the girl's simple nature by her manner, who, though she saw little of her new mamma, as she loved to call her, yet believed that she was the dearest creatui-e that the castle contained. And, curiously enough, no one did see much of the Squire's new bride. Shortly after her arrival at the Chace she had made an exploring tour over the building, the whole of which was in excellent repair except the North Keep, which had been shut up for many years, and had persuaded her husband to let her have a sitting-room and dressing room fitted up adjoining her own chamber ; and in thia she spent a great portion of her time in the company of a sort of half maid and half companion, who Was called by the household Mistress Judith. Judith was a gaunt, dark woman, with strongly marked Oriental features, and piercing black eyes that seemed to look through and through the person with whom she was conversing.

She spoke but little, made no friends with the other servants, who were slightly in awe of her, and seemed to be devoted heart and soul to her mistress, whose footsteps she followed like a shadow. The Squire always spoke of his wife as Madame Hinda, and by degrees she began to be known through out the household, and indeed in the country round, by this sobriquet. All seemed to adore her except perhaps Caleb Eoper, the Squire's most trusted henchman. Caleb Roper, whose appearance has been already described, was "a man with a history. ' He was the Squire's foster-brother, and had received a little better education than was then generally obtained by persons in his class of life. He had accompanied the Squire during his military career more as a humble friend than as a servant, and after his retirement from the service had been made the companion of his sports by flood and field.

He was an enormously powerful man, and had twice saved his foster-brother's life, once by warding off a blow in an affray with poachers, which had it taken effect would certainly have cost the Squire his life; and once by carrying him on his back to shore when seized with a sudden cramp whilst bathing. All might have gone well with Caleb Roper had he been exempt from the frailties of our nature, but, as he was not so, he fell in love. The girl upon whom his affections were fixed was a pert little rustic coquette, the daughter of a small farmer on the estate, and at first she was rather flattered by the attentions of Mr. Roper, as Caleb was called. But after a time the deepness and earnestness of Caleb's love first frightened, and then wearied her. Her heart was not a sufficiently capacious receptacle for so deep an affection, and she began to detest a lover whom she could not understand.